1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gaming machine executing a slot game whose result is determined in accordance with a combination of symbols, and a reel device thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
A gaming machine executing a slot game determines a result of the game based on a combination of rearranged symbols. As a method for rearranging symbols, there is a mechanical reel method of mechanically moving and stopping symbols. A gaming machine adopting a conventional mechanical reel method has a reel device which includes reels each having an outer circumferential surface on which symbols are lined up, a reel driving mechanism which rotates the reels, and a home position detecting mechanism which detects the home position of each reel. For example, the home position detecting mechanism detects positions of components including the home position of a reel in such a way that plural different protrusions are formed on the inner circumference of a disc which rotates with the reel, and these protrusions are detected by a sensor (Specification of published U.S. patent application No. 2005/0159210, Specification of Australian patent application No. 2005200185, Specification of published European patent application No. 1557803A2, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-204745). As such, the gaming machine can rearrange symbols to form a predetermined combination based on the rotation angles of the reels, by determining the relation between the reel and the symbols with reference to the home position.
However, the conventional arrangement above requires, when symbols are lined up on the outer circumferential surface of a reel, the determination of the position of each symbol with respect to a predetermined position (home position) of the reel, in order to determine the positional relation between the reel and the symbols. As such, the conventional arrangement requires the player to concentrate on the determination of the position of each symbol, and hence lining up the symbols on the reel would weigh heavily on the player.
An object of the present invention is to provide a gaming machine which is capable of reducing the burden of lining up symbols on a reel and a reel device thereof.